Digital Avatar: The Aftermath
by yinboo
Summary: A disaster of near-apocalyptic proportions has befallen the city of Sapporo, in Japan. The survivors are put to the ultimate test as the ruined country is flooded by demons and monsters from the digital world alike. Can Akio and his friends solve the mystery of what happened and save Japan with the help of their Digimon partners, before it's too late?
1. Chapter 1, Part I

An overhead lamp flips on with a CLICK - filling a circle in the otherwise pitch black room with white, bright light. An entity is sitting on a chair within this ring of light, looking forward - into the darkness; unmoving. It wears a white mask, that has two triangular 'eyes' placed vertically on the left side. The entity wears a black dress that leaves no skin other than that of the hands exposed; starkly resisting the penetrating power of the light.

"What is it that you want?" A deep, growling voice asks, from within the shadows.

"I wish to make an appeal, to extend the time until the Day of Reckoning." Its voice echoes in answer across the room, in the sound of two voices speaking simultaneously: one light and female, the other menacing and otherwordly; androgynous.

There is a pronounced silence following the entity's request, while the shadowed ministers delegate the matter. It is broken by a stiff grunt, then words, uttered by a different creature this time.

"For what reason do you wish to preserve the human race, when we, the Angels of His glory have ruled them unfit for life?"

"I wish to challenge the humans, so as to test their right to life." The entity says quickly.

This response evokes some discussion among the other ministers, but they are swiftly silenced by the commanding voice.

"And how would you go about doing this?"

The light surrounding the entity begins to slowly fade away. It is not until the light is near completely gone when the entity finally voices its response.

"I will grant them power."


	2. Chapter 1, Part II

"It seems like the commotion downtown has finally been cleared up and the Odori subway stations have been restored to their full operation."

Akio Sasaki wakes up to the exuberant voice of the morning radio host. Groaning, he turns over onto his other side, facing away from the alarm clock.

'Too tired...'

He tries to smother out the noise with a pillow, but to no avail - morning was here, whether he liked it or not.

"So that's good news for all of you kids listening out there that are returning to school today." The radio host adds with a laugh.

Akio's eyes immediately open.

He lunges out of bed and into his open closet then shuffles through his pile of clothes, throwing them across the room as he digs deeper and deeper into the pile.

'Oh wait, I hung them up so that they wouldn't get wrinkled.'

He looks up and sees the light blue school uniform, hanging neatly above his head. He quickly puts on his uniform shirt, pulls on the pants and slips on his pair of sneakers. The whole ordeal takes less than a minute.

As he is about to leave the room, he remembers the pair of goggles lying on top of his bedside dresser.

Would it be weird if I showed up to school wearing those?

He walks over to the dresser and holds them up, and starts to put them on over his head.

'But wait, wouldn't I get into trouble if I wore them to school?'

Defeated by his second thoughts, he removes the pair of goggles from his forehead and throws them into his backpack.

...

Akio flies out of the front door of the house, a piece of buttered toast poking out from his mouth and the buttons of his uniform shirt undone, revealing the white tee shirt which he had worn to sleep last night, beneath it.

He is greeted by a friend, who leers at him as he glides toward her.

"Looking sloppy as usual, I see." Setsuko Kimura says, after giving him a quick look-over. She wore the same blue uniform, except hers was properly buttoned and arranged neatly enough as though it had been ironed this very morning. Even her short, light brown hair seemed to fall in place perfectly, defying the wind.

"I was in kind of a hurry." Akio says, while he proceeds to button his shirt. "You must have to get up at four in the morning to have everything so neat and tidy."

Setsuko glares at him, but he pretends to not have noticed it. They begin walking together.

"Well I'm guessing that, in your state of panic, you didn't see the message Ryota sent us earlier this morning." She begins to say, and when Akio gives her a questioning look, she further clarifies, following a slight groan, "He said he's going to skip."

Akio freezes in his tracks, an expression of bewilderment on his face. "He's going to skip, on the first day of school?"

"I know, right? I warned him against it, but his mind seemed pretty set. He said he'll be at the Odori all day."

"At the Odori? That just sounds plain boring." Akio says. He couldn't imagine why somebody would rather spend an entire day at an empty park than go to school. "What's he even gonna do during all of that time? Play with his cards?"

Setsuko shakes her head but says nothing.

Akio could remember when Ryota had received his first pack of Digimon cards. It had been his eleventh birthday, and, on a whim, Akio had decided to buy him a booster pack for a gift. He could remember the first card in that booster pack as Ryota opened it - a Patamon #26 - and how excited he looked, as he beheld it.

Since then, collecting and trading Digimon cards had become a passion of is. Perhaps even an obsession, Akio thinks grimly.

'Skipping school just to play with Digimon cards? That's taking it a little too far.'

"Hey Aki, isn't that your dad's ride?"

A shiny black car whizzes past the two. It is the only car they had seen on the road that morning.

They stand still and watch as it disappears down the street.

Akio nods. "Yeah, that's my dad. Off to work again." He looks down at his feet timidly.

With a sigh, Setsuko places a reassuring hand on her friend's shoulder.

"Hey, how does jogging the rest of the way sound? That is, if you haven't fallen too badly out of shape over the summer break."

Akio smiles meekly.

'What would I do without you, Setsuko?'

"I'm in. But wait, let me get something out of my bag first." He takes out his pair of goggles and puts them on, over his eyes. He felt like he was being reunited with a part of himself then, and he could feel a new kind of energy burning within.

"Say, Setsu, how's about we turn this into a race?" Akio says, grinning mischeivously as he begins to speed up. "Last one to the subway is a rotten digi-egg!" He starts to run and she chases after him.


	3. Chapter 1, Part III

It is a school day so most of Odoki Park is empty, but for the two subway entrances located on its fringes, where most of the student and adult population of the area would be going to that morning.

In a playground at the center of Odoki park, it was the perfect place to go to play hooky.

Ryota Ishikawa is sitting in the dark recesses of a jungle gym structure. Sure it smelled like sand and cut grass here, but it was a small price to pay for the security. By the faint ray of light available to him through a small hole in the wall, he opens up the tin box he had brought with him and removes the deck of cards within - his collection of Digimon cards, held together by a rubber band.

His heart is beating fast - he was still struggling to comprehend the fact that he was actually going through with the plan. Skipping the first day of school was beyond anything he had ever done before, and he knew that the consequences of his parents finding out would be huge.

'Above all else, that has to be avoided at all costs.'

He takes up a Patamon card - the first Digimon card acquired in his collection and the one he most prized, it was always at the very top of his deck. The glittery holographic surface of the card shimmered in the light as if it were a precious diamond.

"And it looks like we'll be parting soon too, my friend.'

Ryota is startled by the sound of three successive taps. As far as he could tell, the noise sounded like it was being made against the outside of the jungle gym.

"You in there?" Ryota hears somebody ask.

He waits in silence, too afraid to answer. He wanted to be certain that it wasn't an adult, or even a police officer, out there waiting for him to answer; to take the bait.

"I brought the card like we arranged." He hears the voice say again more impatiently, after a while.

Ryota takes a deep breath of relief. "Yes, I'm here. Patamon Holographic #26, like I said in the message."

He can hear somebody making their way through the jungle gym, judging by a series of thumps and curses. After some time, somebody emerges into the small space. It was an older looking boy, with a pointed jaw, long, curly brown hair, and a strained, mean expression on his face that made Ryota jump at the way it seemed to suddenly appear from the shadows.

"Well, you're certainly older than I expected." Ryota says, fixing his glasses, regaining his composure.

"I can't say I expected to see a little nerd like you show up here, either." He retorts, followed by a snort.

"Dude, I skipped the first day of school for this, so if you're going to be a jerk..."

"Look, kid, do you want the card or not?" The young man says, and reveals a Digimon card he quickly pulls out of his pocket.

'It's beautiful - Wizardmon #104. The last card I need to complete my collection of the generation two cards.'

Not wanting to seem desperate, Ryota tries to conceal his excitement as he shows the boy his Patamon card.

After taking a moment to examine the card the boy nods in approval.

"Alright, it's a trade." Ryota says, albeit a little shakier than he would have preferred.

...

It is at that precise moment that the two boys hear the sound of an explosion - as if some great, indomitable force had suddenly ripped through the entire city.

And that was when everything went dark.


	4. Chapter 2, Part I

Akio opens up his eyes - awakening for a second time this morning. But this time, he found himself in a completely different world. Collapsed were the skyscrapers and even the Sapporo TV Station; its proud sillhouette no longer dominating the city skyline. Cracked and creviced were the streets and sidewalks. Cremated were the clothes on his body - now singed and tattered shreds that barely clung to his body.

'What happened?'

He sits up, feeling his weight disperse the warm sand beneath him.

Filling one hand with the grey sand, he watches as it streams between his fingers. Like tiny grains of coal, they left a black residue on his palms that he could not rub off, no matter how hard he tried.

A dry, warm wind buffets Akio as he gets onto his feet. Ashes of things, places; lives destroyed, blows into his face and eyes.

He wears his googles, so as to gain an unimpeded view of the destruction around him, of how everything he had had known for his entire life had been decimated in an instant. The once beautiful and bustling city was now reduced to a smoldering husk of its former glory. Worst of all, not one soul was in sight.

Then, the thought hit him, like a bullet shot into his brain.

"What happened to Setsuko?"

**...**

It watches silently as Akio begins to walk, from behind the cover of a crumbling wall. It was interested in where the human would go in this world of death and destruction. Judging by the slow, jolting way that Akio moved, it could tell that he was experiencing a considerable amount of pain in one of his legs - and knew that he would not get far, if that pain was not dealt with soon. This was good news to it, for the sooner Akio dropped; the sooner he died, and the sooner he would have his lunch.

Eagerly, it draws closer to Akio, and ducks behind a torched bush.

"Setsuko!" Akio shouts.

The noise catches the stalking creature off guard.

'Was the human looking for somebody, then?'

It could smell the fear as it wafted off of Akio, and the scent was growing stronger by the minute, as he called for Setsuko over and over again while he walked aimlessly through the ruined landscape. It followed along dilligently, hopping between the shadows of bushes, thrown chunks of wall and then, a wrecked car. It made sure that it was always one step behind him and out of view.

'What is he doing now?'

Akio had stopped walking and knelt to the ground. On his knees, he clasped his hands and began to pray. To the creature following him, the gesture was totally alien. It thought that he had already given in to his fate, and was awaiting his final demise.

'Oh, don't give up so soon, little human!'

It pokes its head out from behind the car, an unusual tinge of sympathy urging him to go up to the human and see if he was alright. Sure, he was hungry and wouldn't think twice about eating Akio if the chance presented itself to him, but at the same time, it made the creature a little sad to think that the human would give up so soon.

Before it can get closer to the human - he suddenly pops up, off of the ground again!

Startled, the creature runs for cover once again, hoping it hadn't followed him all this way only to be spotted.

Akio quickly looks over his shoulder - he thought he heard something. His eyes settle on a car that lay, totalled, to the side of where the road used to be, were there was now a downward slope leading into a crater that was comprised of sand, debris and everything from microwaves to bathroom sinks, flung from the now barely recognisable apartment complex nearby.

To Akio's horror, the car looked familiar.

'It's black, like dad's car, but there's no way...'

He limps closer to the wreck as fast as he can, in hopes of better identifying it despite how mangled and mashed it was. After a quick check of the license plate, though, his fears are allayed.

'It isn't his.'

But a terrifying realization comes over him as he is turning away from the wreck.

'If it wasn't dad's car, then whose was it?'

He tries not to think about it, as he continues walking and calling out for Setsuko - calling out for anybody that may have possibly survived.

Meanwhile, the beast continues to stalk him, lying in wait - a beast tracking its prey.


	5. Chapter 2, Part II

A strong aroma fills his nostrils. It was the scent of mint mixed with several other scents he could not recognize. As his consciousness returns, he can feel a firm, thatched surface beneath him that was surprisingly comfortable to lay on. He could hear, off in the background, the constant sound of a bubbling liquid, and it made him realize how incredibly thirsty he was.

"I see you're awake. That's good." A raspy, young male's voice says.

Ryota Ishikawa inspects his hands, they are wrapped in bandages and crusted with dry blood. His eyelids flutter then shut; too heavy to keep open.

"You lost a lot of blood out there, so try not to move around too much." The voice says calmly. "And take deep breaths, the fumes of the potion I'm brewing will help you regain your strength."

"Who...are you?" Ryota manages to muster through parched lips. He says it so quietly, though, that he doubted that the young man could have heard him.

The stirring noise stops.

He hears the sound of a cork being popped followed shortly afterward by creaking footsteps, as he felt what ever entity was in the room with him come closer, until it felt like it was hovering just above where he laid.

"Take a sip of this, it'll do wonders."

Ryota complies, and takes a swig out of the glass cordial that is pressed against his mouth. The liquid is sweet and it scalds his tongue and his throat as he swallows it. After a few seconds, he experiences a strong but pleasant minty aftertaste, and it I'd then that he can feel the promised affects taking place in his body. He could feel his heart beat faster, and the rush of the increased oxygen flow through his bloodstream was like an instant adrenaline spike.

He opens his eyes and for the first time sees the person standing over him.

Except, it wasn't a person.

"Wizardmon?" Akio says, confused.

'But you're a Digimon, so this can't be real.'

But real it seemed, for the being he saw was remarkably similar to the Wizardmon he could recall looking at as a mere image on a trading card, not too long ago. It wore a yellow jumpsuit, a pair of old-fashioned brown leather boots and gloves, and a purple scarf which covered its mouth, so that only its eyes showed. The pointed hat it wore was the same color fabric as its scarf, and was ominously marked by a large skull with red eyeholes.

It locks eyes with Ryota; emerald green, sharp-looking eyes.

"Yes, that is the name I go by." Wizardmon says, confirming the impossible reality. "And I know who you are, Akio Sasaki. So, this saves us a lot of time that would have otherwise been squandered on introductions."

"What happened to me?" Ryota asks, hoisting himself up on one elbow. His body ached terribly and as he rose, he could feel a burning sensation in his chest Wizardmon sees this and quickly comes to his side, and gently pushes him against the chest to lay him back down.

"I think you should lie down. What I have to tell you might be a lot for you to bear."

"But what about that boy at the park? Are my friends, Akio and Setsuko alright?"

Wizardmon averts his eyes now, and it made Ryota think he was hiding something from him.

"Well, what happened?"

"I do not know of the fate of your friends." Wizardmon says quietly, as he takes a seat again, beside the cauldron where the remainder of the potion frothed and simmered, within. "You are one of the lucky few."


End file.
